A high Q mechanical resonator is a device which is used to pass frequencies which are very close to the resonant frequency of the mechanical resonator. As disclosed in “Large Jobs for Little Devices” Stephen Cass, IEEE SPECTRUM, January 2001, pp.72-73, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, these high Q mechanical resonators are being operated in the 100+MHz range.
Unfortunately, there are some problems with the existing high Q mechanical resonators. For example, the performance of these prior high Q resonators has been limited by stiction forces. Additionally, the upper frequency range of these high Q resonators is low restricting their use for some applications. Further these high Q resonators are difficult to fabricate and have a relatively large mass.
Recently, it has been demonstrated that individuals or small groups of individuals can cause great harm to society by premeditated acts of terrorism. One such possibility is the deliberate introduction of a bio hazardous material into the local environment. Therefore, in order to provide maximum self-protection, societies must develop rapid identification capabilities for biohazard substances.
The need to accurately identify the presence of a substance or other thing is applicable in a wide variety of other environments. For example, in an agricultural environment, farmers monitor for the presence of insects, bacteria, fungus, and/or spores which may damage their crops. Since identification of these things is difficult, the farmers often have to take preventive measures, such as the application of certain chemicals, prematurely and sometimes unnecessarily to prevent the chance of losing some or all of their crops.